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Retd high court judge to head probe into Hathras stampede: Yogi Adityanath
Yogi Adityanath said the inquiry panel would also comprise retired administrative and police officers and recommend SOPs to be adopted in future
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday ordered a judicial inquiry into the stampede at a religious congregation in Hathras district that has killed 121 people.
The chief minister, who flew down to Hathras and met the injured, later told reporters that the inquiry panel would be headed by a retired high court judge and comprise retired administrative and police officers. The panel will also be asked to recommend standard operating procedures to be adopted to prevent such incidents in future, he said.
Five more people died on Wednesday morning, raising the toll in the stampede to 121. The tragedy took place at the end of a “satsang” organised by a religious preacher “Bhole Baba”, originally named Suraj Pal. Yogi Adityanath said the injured told him that the incident took place when the convoy of the katha vachak (preacher) reached GT Road after the programme and scores of devotees moved towards him to touch him. A crowd followed them, climbing over each other, the injured told the chief ministers, adding that the sevadars, or staffers of the preacher’s organisation, pushed the people leading to a stampede on both sides of the GT Road.
A first information officer (FIR) registered on the statement of a local police officer on Tuesday night named Devdas Madhukar, the head sevadar of Pal’s organisation and unnamed organisers of the religious congregation on Tuesday as accused in the case. Police said the accused were absconding.
The arrangements inside the entire event were made by the sevadars associated with the event, while the administration made police arrangements outside. But when the tragedy happened, the sevadars fled the spot, the chief minister said.
They did not even make arrangements to take people to the hospital after the accident, he said, adding that the saddest aspect of the tragedy was that the sevadars, who do not allow the administration to enter such programmes, also tried to suppress the accident.
“The organisers of the satsang will be called for interrogation and they will be asked about the reasons for the incident. The accountability for the negligence and the responsibility of those involved in the incident will be fixed,” he said.
Yogi stressed that everyone responsible for the Hathras accident will be punished. No culprit will be spared and the state government will get to the bottom of this entire incident, he said.
“To probe the entire incident, we have constituted an SIT (Special Investigation Team) under the chairmanship of ADG Agra, which has given its preliminary report. She (ADG Agra Anupam Kulshreshtra) has been asked to get to the bottom of this incident. There are many such aspects, which are very important to investigate.”
Asked why the influential preacher Bhole Baba hadn’t been named in the FIR, the chief minister said, “Prima facie, FIR is lodged against those who had sought permission for the application. During the probe, when the scope increases, all those who are responsible for this incident will come under the scanner.”
The chief minister said three ministers Lakshmi Narayan Chaudhary, Sandeep Singh and Asim Arun, chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh and director general of police Prashant Kumar were camping at the spot.
“All are working to fix the accountability of those responsible for this incident. The state government has constituted special teams that will visit various districts to take forward the investigation and act against the culprits,” he said.
The deceased were mostly from 16 districts of Uttar Pradesh. Six of the victims were from Madhya Pradesh (Gwalior), four from Haryana and one from Rajasthan. Among the injured, 31 are being treated in hospitals in Hathras, Aligarh, Etah and Agra and are out of danger, he said.
Yogi also hit out at opposition parties for criticising the government for the tragedy, saying some people indulge in politics even over sad and painful incidents.
Such people have arrogance even after indulging in malpractices, he said. “People know with whom the ‘katha vachak’ (preacher) has photos, who has political relations with him. You must be aware where such stampedes used to happen during rallies in the past and who was behind them. I think it is necessary to get to the bottom of all the aspects. Those who play with the lives of innocent people should be held accountable,” he said.
